New shipping public relations firm specialises in crisis communications

NAVIGATE RESPONSE, a new public relations firm specialising in crisis situations, providing 24/7 services geared to the shipping industry and focussing on managing clients' messages across a range of communications channels.

The new company, launched at London's Baltic Exchange is led by Richard Sayer as chairman and Mark Clark as CEO, the former UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency PR chief.

The team includes leading maritime PR experts Mike Elsom and Bill Lines of sister company Navigate PR Ltd, which was founded in 2004 and provides public relations services to maritime businesses across a range of disciplines.

Navigate Response is partnered with Admiralty-Helix in Singapore, which forms its Asian headquarters. Admiralty-Helix is jointly led by Jesse Lewis, a former US diplomat and Washington Post correspondent as well as Edward Ion, former Asia editor of Lloyd's List and managing partner of Singapore-based Helix Media that specialises in public relations in the maritime and insurance field.